A 29-year-old woman who tried to buy liquor online for Rs 1,700 was tricked into transferring Rs 1.6 lakh by a cyber fraudster, who posed as a liquor shop employee. The Malad police has registered an FIR.
The woman, a lecturer at a private coaching centre, stays with her husband in Malad (West). Around 7 pm on July 14, the couple decided to order liquor from a local store.
In her statement to the police, she said: “My husband asked me to order Blenders Pride from Chincholi wine shop. I searched for its number on Google and called. A fraudster, posing as a wine shop employee, asked me to pay Rs 1,700. I paid the money but he asked me to scan a QR code that I received on WhatsApp saying that it is required for GST payment. I scanned the code and Rs 19,860 got debited from my account.”
When the woman confronted the fraudster, he said that it happened by mistake and sent another QR code. When the woman scanned it, Rs 10 were credited to her account. The fraudster then sent another QR code. This time when she scanned it, Rs 81,200 were debited from her account.
The police said that when the woman called on the number again, the fraudster apologised saying there was some technical issues with her account and asked for another phone number and bank account to refund the money. She gave her husband’s number and received another QR code. When she scanned it, another Rs 79,460 were withdrawn from the account.
The woman again called the number and the fraudster said he was on the way to their home to deliver the liquor and will resolve the issue. However, when no one showed up, the couple went to the liquor store and found out that they were duped by a cyber fraudster, said police.
The above news was originally posted on indianexpress.com
